Eagle Among Trees. Sacramento Valley, California. January 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bald eagle flies through heavy vegetation

I was up in the Sacramento Valley last winter, visiting several wildlife refuges, when I had the opportunity to photograph several bald eagles. It was not uncommon to find them perched alone in the high branches of tall trees, from which they can presumable observe their surroundings and watch for prey. If I waited long enough, eventually the bird would take flight, giving me a few seconds to try to track the early while firing off a quick series of exposures.

This bird made it doubly tricky. Instead of heading for an open area, it looped back right in among the trees. It is perhaps even a bit difficult to find the eagle through that jumble of branches! I’ll be honest — I’m also sharing their photograph as an example of how amazing modern autofocus systems can be, at least with a bit of practice. The challenges here are quite something — the eagle is flying at a good rate and somehow the camera and I had to keep focus on it despite all of the nearer and farther interference.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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